Republican support for health exchange bill lukewarm in House – at best

A bill that would set up health insurance exchanges[1] in Colorado won initial approval in the Republican-led House on today, though the voice vote in favor of the bill didn’t reflect the considerable GOP opposition.

Senate Bill 200, now must get a recorded vote in the House before it can go back to the Democratic-led Senate, which must consider minor changes made to it today in committee.

Sponsored in the House by Majority Leader Amy Stephens, R-Monument, the bill passed the House Health and Environment Committee on a 9-4 vote Tuesday, with three Republicans joining six Democrats to vote in favor of the bill.

Despite the apparent lackluster support from Republicans on the committee, Stephens said she was “confident” the bill would get the needed 33 votes in the House – where Republicans hold a 33-32 majority – though she conceded some of those votes would have to come from Democrats.

“I think you’re going to see a good many Republican votes” in favor of the bill, she said, without venturing a guess as to how many that might be.

Republicans have been split on the bill since it was introduced earlier this year by Stephens and Sen. Betty Boyd[2], D-Lakewood. Tea Party activists and conservative groups have virulently opposed it, while a multitude of business groups, non-profits, health care providers and insurers support it.

For Stephens and some other Republicans, the bill has divided their loyalties between two important constituencies: the so-called “Liberty” groups that have boosted them at the polls and the business groups that actually make campaign contributions.

The legislation would set up the structure of a health insurance exchange, essentially an online marketplace where businesses and individuals could band together to pool risks and buying power the way large companies now do.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed by Congress last year mandates states set up health care exchanges by 2014 or the federal government will do it for them. The exchanges also would allow low-income people to find out if they are eligible for subsidies.

Five of the state’s major business groups – the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Colorado Competitive Council, Colorado Concern and the state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses – urged support of the legislation today. And in an unusual appeal to a state legislature, the U.S. Chamber Commerce wrote a letter to Boyd and Stephens urging passage of the bill.

Some of the organizations in favor of the exchanges actually have joined legal efforts to oppose the federal health care law. Business groups say the exchanges were contemplated long before the federal law passed.

The massive level of support from the business community did not quell the concerns of Tea Party activists, who held a news conference in front of the Legislative Services Building, where the hearing took place, to threaten primaries and recall efforts against any Republican who voted for the bill.

Several Tea Party organizers called the bill “socialism.”

“It will be an issue for those Republicans who decide to support the bill,” said Nancy Rumfelt of Loveland, director of Liberty Watch.

Tea Party activists argue the bill simply furthers the designs of the federal health care bill, which they call “Obamacare[3].” They were so angry with Stephens that they dubbed the bill “Amycare.”

Stephens laughed at one point today over the moniker.

“Amy cares,” she said.

One man who came to testify against the bill in committee, apparently upset over having to wait so long for his turn to speak, shouted, “Treason!” and walked out of the hearing room.

The bill passed the Democratic-controlled Senate on a 20-15 party line vote, and it would take only a few Republicans to help pass the bill in the House.

Republicans on the committee Tuesday were divided.

“I don’t believe the state health care exchange is the answer,” said Rep. J. Paul Brown[4], R-Ignacio. “I do believe there are a lot of regulations on the health insurance companies and throughout the health care industry that have added costs upon costs, and I think that is where we need to focus on bringing health care costs down.”